AHEAD of the governorship and state Houses of
Assembly elections, the Rivers State Governor,
Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, has accused the wife of the
President, Mrs. Patience Jonathan, of
pressurising the Independent National Electoral
Commission and security agencies to rig the
governorship election in the state.
Amaechi, who observed that President Goodluck
Jonathan’s wife was in Okrika, her hometown,
for the governorship election, hoped that there
would not be a repeat of alleged electoral
malpractices that happened on March 28 in the
state.
The governor, who spoke during a stakeholders’
meeting on Thursday in Port Harcourt, said the
Resident Electoral Commissioner in the state,
Mrs. Gesila Khan, already had a mindset of
delivering the state to the Peoples Democratic
Party.
He said the governorship candidate of the PDP,
Chief Nyesom Wike, must answer for the killings
in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area.
Amaechi insisted that INEC must make available
original result sheets at all polling units and
called on the people of the state not to allow the
election to hold without result sheets.
The governor said, “The reason for this meeting
is to let you know that what happened on the
28th of March, 2015 may or may not repeat itself.
Few days ago, I said it would not repeat itself.
But as at this morning, there are enormous
pressure on the security operatives by the wife of
the President.
“There is also enormous pressure on INEC by the
wife of the President. I hope that they will not
repeat the hijacking of results that we witnessed
on March 28. In most of the local government
areas, if not all, there were no result sheets.
This time around, I hope they will bring the
result sheets to the different units. I hope they
will not forget the result sheets at the collation
centre.
“For me as the governor of Rivers State, what is
material to me is that we want to see the result
sheets. We want to ensure that as we vote, our
votes will count. Most of you have been asking
this question; who will take over from me? I told
you that we don’t want anybody to force a
candidate on us.
“We don’t want people to be made governor
because they want to share our resources. That
is not what we want. We want to be allowed to
vote and let our votes be counted. Let the wife of
the President stay in her house. She should not
force a candidate on us.
“They should tell her that security agencies have
assured us that they will allow votes to count. I
assure you that the security agencies will not be
biased and I hope that the security agencies will
keep to that. I hope that the woman posted here
as the Resident Electoral Commission would know
that her responsibility is not to allow anybody to
see the result sheets.”
Calling on the electorate not to allow anybody to
intimidate them, Amaechi explained that
communities should use the Ubima (his
community) formula by locking down their
villages to ensure that nobody would steal their
votes.
He warned that INEC should not endanger the
lives of its members of staff by deliberately
withholding the results sheets or failing to do
what was expected of them according to the law.
Amaechi urged communities not to allow any
INEC official to leave until the right actions were
taken in order to ensure a free and fair election.
“Anywhere there is no result sheets, don’t allow
the election to hold. Basically, I don’t mind the
fact that almost all those employed by INEC in
the state; collation officers, electoral officers, are
PDP members.
“There will be no boycott, there will be no
refusal to vote. I hope only the right persons will
be there to do the job and the result sheets will
be available. If not, the Rivers State Government
cannot determine what happens in the
communities,” he added.
The governor, however, announced the ban on
the use of commercial motorcycles in areas such
as Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area,
Abua/Odual, Ahoada East and Ahoada West,
described as hot spots, until after the elections.
Cautioning those in the habit of fomenting
trouble in the state to know that power had
changed hands at the centre, Amaechi restated
that those involved in politically-motivated
killings in the state would face the law before
the end of his administration.
He disclosed that three persons had been
arrested in connection with politically-motivated
killings in the state, adding that about 400 All
Progressives Congress members that were
arrested on trumped-up charges had been
released.
Assembly elections, the Rivers State Governor,
Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, has accused the wife of the
President, Mrs. Patience Jonathan, of
pressurising the Independent National Electoral
Commission and security agencies to rig the
governorship election in the state.
Amaechi, who observed that President Goodluck
Jonathan’s wife was in Okrika, her hometown,
for the governorship election, hoped that there
would not be a repeat of alleged electoral
malpractices that happened on March 28 in the
state.
The governor, who spoke during a stakeholders’
meeting on Thursday in Port Harcourt, said the
Resident Electoral Commissioner in the state,
Mrs. Gesila Khan, already had a mindset of
delivering the state to the Peoples Democratic
Party.
He said the governorship candidate of the PDP,
Chief Nyesom Wike, must answer for the killings
in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area.
Amaechi insisted that INEC must make available
original result sheets at all polling units and
called on the people of the state not to allow the
election to hold without result sheets.
The governor said, “The reason for this meeting
is to let you know that what happened on the
28th of March, 2015 may or may not repeat itself.
Few days ago, I said it would not repeat itself.
But as at this morning, there are enormous
pressure on the security operatives by the wife of
the President.
“There is also enormous pressure on INEC by the
wife of the President. I hope that they will not
repeat the hijacking of results that we witnessed
on March 28. In most of the local government
areas, if not all, there were no result sheets.
This time around, I hope they will bring the
result sheets to the different units. I hope they
will not forget the result sheets at the collation
centre.
“For me as the governor of Rivers State, what is
material to me is that we want to see the result
sheets. We want to ensure that as we vote, our
votes will count. Most of you have been asking
this question; who will take over from me? I told
you that we don’t want anybody to force a
candidate on us.
“We don’t want people to be made governor
because they want to share our resources. That
is not what we want. We want to be allowed to
vote and let our votes be counted. Let the wife of
the President stay in her house. She should not
force a candidate on us.
“They should tell her that security agencies have
assured us that they will allow votes to count. I
assure you that the security agencies will not be
biased and I hope that the security agencies will
keep to that. I hope that the woman posted here
as the Resident Electoral Commission would know
that her responsibility is not to allow anybody to
see the result sheets.”
Calling on the electorate not to allow anybody to
intimidate them, Amaechi explained that
communities should use the Ubima (his
community) formula by locking down their
villages to ensure that nobody would steal their
votes.
He warned that INEC should not endanger the
lives of its members of staff by deliberately
withholding the results sheets or failing to do
what was expected of them according to the law.
Amaechi urged communities not to allow any
INEC official to leave until the right actions were
taken in order to ensure a free and fair election.
“Anywhere there is no result sheets, don’t allow
the election to hold. Basically, I don’t mind the
fact that almost all those employed by INEC in
the state; collation officers, electoral officers, are
PDP members.
“There will be no boycott, there will be no
refusal to vote. I hope only the right persons will
be there to do the job and the result sheets will
be available. If not, the Rivers State Government
cannot determine what happens in the
communities,” he added.
The governor, however, announced the ban on
the use of commercial motorcycles in areas such
as Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area,
Abua/Odual, Ahoada East and Ahoada West,
described as hot spots, until after the elections.
Cautioning those in the habit of fomenting
trouble in the state to know that power had
changed hands at the centre, Amaechi restated
that those involved in politically-motivated
killings in the state would face the law before
the end of his administration.
He disclosed that three persons had been
arrested in connection with politically-motivated
killings in the state, adding that about 400 All
Progressives Congress members that were
arrested on trumped-up charges had been
released.
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